The only known protection is for the idea to fail big time! Then nobody will want to copy it. If your idea is truly as simple and lucrative as you perceive, t

The only known protection is for the idea to fail big time! Then nobody will want to copy it. If your idea is truly as simple and lucrative as you perceive, then no matter how much protection you apply somebody will get greedy and find ways around the most comprehensive protection measures, being illegal is never a consideration if there is big money to be made. Even if you weren't against patents, I would advise against it unless you have a lot of money to secure international patent protection and then you will need even more money to sue the many infringers. Patents are really for the large corporates who don't even blink when paying their lawyers millions. Open source is good, but are you prepared to invest the time and effort for little not financial reward? Of course, you could become famous, but that also needs luck to be on your side.